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COMMUNIQUÉ A PUBLICATION OF THE IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION – DEC 2017/JAN 2018 – Vol. 55, No. 3 IN THIS ISSUE: Holiday Wishes Legislative Advance You Did It 3 7 11 Set it... Set it... and forget it! and forget it! EFT AVAILABLE NOW! EFT AVAILABLE NOW! 'Have you looked up the giant gummy bear reaction? … It's pretty sweet.' Aileen Sullivan is the 2018 Teacher of the year It's about 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning and the 21 students in Aileen Sullivan's chemistry class have broken up into small groups to work on their projects for the upcoming Demonstration Show. Sullivan, a 22-year-veteran and the 2018 state of Iowa Teacher of the Year, moves from group to group checking on her students' progress. Some are pretty far along. Others are still deciding. Sullivan talks with each. One duo tells her they decided on a potassium chlorate and sugar experiment. When potassium chlorate and regular table sugar are added with a catalyst – say a drop of sulfuric acid – the two react pretty spectacularly, giving FOLLOW US ON: see SULLIVAN on page 8 see RECERTIFIED on page 10 Editor's note: This article from Des Moines Area Community College professor Dr. Lisa Ossian originally appeared in the National Education Association's Higher Education Advocate. The DMACC Higher Education Association was one of 13 associations that had to use paper mail-in ballots to recertify in September. All 13 associations recertified. I have had a teenage daughter in my household since December 31, 1999 (Y2K), so I am experienced with crisis. But this is a different story. This is about a community college faculty union in a Trump state, both a list and a lesson. Last fall, soon after state Republicans seized every arm of government in Des Moines, like see CHECKS on page 9 By Mike Wiser, mwiser@isea.org By Mike Wiser, mwiser@isea.org By Lisa Ossian, llossian@dmacc.edu Lisa Ossian 2018 Iowa Teacher of the Year Aileen Sullivan explains how to fill out the forms for the upcoming Demonstration Show. Sullivan has taught Chemistry in Ames for more than two decades. She's also an active member of the Ames Education Association, having served as the local's chief negotiator for a decade. MIKE WISER/IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. 7 Checks to Recertification: An Iowa Parable. Most who know J. Bruner's in uptown Clarinda, know the restaurant for its grilled steaks and heaping piles of onion rings. For Clarinda Middle School teacher Kim Williams, J. Bruner's is also known as the spot of one of Calrinda Education Association's greatest union victories in many, many years. See, the CEA picked J. Bruner's as the spot for its recertification voting party. "We picked this restaurant that people knew and, being uptown, it was pretty convenient for everybody," Williams said. "We knew it was important to get everybody together." Clarinda School District has 78 eligible staff. The CEA needed 40 "yes" votes for recertification. By the end of the night at J. Bruener's they had 61. CEA is far from unique. In district after district education professionals across Iowa overwhelmingly voted to recertify Iowa State Education Association locals to represent them at the bargaining table during the two-week October voting period. Some 20,048 educators from 220 bargaining units cast an October recertification vote. More than 98 percent of those Recertified. Recertified. Recertified. Educators made sure other educators voted and educators won.